Forensic Architect
May 5th, 2010
More Buildings Abandoned During Construction Due To Economy
Due to the high rate of foreclosures during the recession, an increasing number of buildings and real estate developments have been abandoned mid-construction, leaving behind dangerous conditions.
His job is to protect you from dangerous buildings and he says he's seeing a frightening trend in Chicago. CBS 2's Vince Gerasole spent the day with a forensic architect and explains why more and more homes and businesses here could pose a serious risk.
Roger Medema, a forensic architect, spends his work day examining what's left after someone pilfers through an abandoned property.
"When it looks like these projects are going into foreclosure, they'll come back and treat the place like their own Home Depot store," Medema said.
In one room at an abandoned building, thieves made off with a complete jacuzzi bathtub.
"They had to enlarge the door opening," Medema said. "They took a reciprocating saw and actually enlarged the door opening."
Medema's job is like being a medical examiner for dead buildings; he asses the wounds of his patients –- half-built structures that might have been unattended for months before being taken over by a bank.
"Many of the situations are the same, but the degree of severity can vary quite a bit from place to place," Medema said.
A 200-acre development near Elgin is proof; an entire half-built subdivision had been abandoned. Manhole covers and sewer grates were ripped off for scrap metal, exposing the cavernous sewer vaults below.
"These vaults and these underground structures go down 40 feet," Medema said. "If the fall didn't kill you, you would probably drown in the bottom of this."
In the city, Medema's work has taken him to dangerously incomplete structures.
"Door openings to stairwells; elevator shafts," Medema said. "If somebody fell off of this and if they weren't killed or severely injured by the fall, they'd be impaled by rusty rebar below," said of one abandoned structure.
Such projects and the surrounding scaffolding are often unsecured for a time and the curious are often drawn inside to explore.
"They're not attached to the building well or constructed well," Medema said. "They attract children and it looks like a jungle gym to them."
Medema said his practice barely examined three such projects per year before the recession. That number has climbed to at least 30 annually.
Laws provide for the eventual clean-up by authorities, but it's the in-between time that worries Madema most.
"If you live in a neighborhood there's an abandoned construction project and you see these conditions, I'd be very concerned," he said.
Such buildings also pose a risk to any firefighters or police officers who might be responding to a call. The structures might not be sound enough for their safety.
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About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held field services company in the country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1990 by Robert Klein, Safeguard has grown from a regional preservation company with a few employees and a handful of contractors performing services in the Midwest, to a national company with over 700 employees. Safeguard is supported by a nationwide network of subcontractors able to perform any requested superintendence, preservation, and maintenance functions, as well as numerous ancillary services in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.